“Oh, how sweet it is to die when one has been fully devoted to the heart of the one who is to judge us.” (Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque)
That is easy to understand, dear Mary Alacoque. For then the heart has already awakened to true love. What could be more beautiful than to be united with the One our heart loves? Devotion to the Heart of the Savior has prepared the way for the love of Jesus to sink into our hearts and set them aflame. Then death gradually loses its terror, and we no longer regard it only as “the last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26) to be feared. Instead, the longing for death grows—not because we are weary of life, but because we long so deeply for our Lord that we yearn for the day that will bring us closer to eternity.
In venerating the Heart of our Savior, we remember that through this Heart the Heavenly Father has revealed His love. In the message to Madre Eugenia, our Father describes how His Son is the reservoir of the fountain of love that flows from His Heart. Since love is a force of union, it draws our soul to itself. It knows that it is at home with our Father. The more it has detached itself inwardly from all that is transitory, the more it longs for the love that never passes away.
The soul awakened in love trusts in its heavenly Father and in Him to whom judgment has been entrusted. It knows that it is loved with infinite love. Thus, it not only loses its fear of death but moves toward Him day by day. It is grateful for every day spent in grace, for it knows well that we humans have no lasting dwelling place here on earth.